Poly Bridge Review (Early Access PC)

Poly Bridge by Dry Cactus is a bridge building simulation Early Access PC game available on Steam in which the player’s objective is to build a bridge stable enough to support multiple types of vehicles while staying under budget and suiting the needs for different factors, such as ships that may need to pass under the bridge. Players can choose from a variety of different materials such as wood, steel, cable, and hydraulic pistons and must take into account the weight of the various vehicles, the max joint stress of different parts of your bridge and your budget for the level.

Gameplay in Poly Bridge is pretty simple and the game is fairly easy to navigate.  There is a tutorial available to help get you through getting started, if needed, but I was able to figure things out rather quickly without needing the tutorial.  There are also helpful tools, such as the ability to reveal the high and low stress points of your bridge.  There is a campaign mode where players must solve puzzle-type levels by building bridges that have the capability of getting vehicles from point A to point B.  The levels in campaign mode start off fairly easy and plain but get more difficult and interesting as you go along.  I didn’t find any of the levels too difficult, but found myself going back and playing some of the levels multiple times to try out different designs and ideas.  There is also a Sandbox mode in which you can create your own levels and have fun trying out any design or idea you can come up with.  I found myself spending quite a bit of time in Sandbox mode just playing around and creating levels with anything from simple bridges to multiple suspended bridges.  It is a lot of fun coming up with all kinds of crazy bridges and seeing what they are capable of doing.  

The visuals in Poly Bridge look nice and are what you would expect in a bridge building simulation game.  Building is done using a 2D dotted line map.  This is where players select and place the materials they wish to build the bridge out of, along with any other features they would like to add.  The rest of the game is in a 3D type environment which shows the cars, land and water features and of course, your bridge.  The graphics in this environment work great for the type of game Poly Bridge is.  Stunning, life-like visuals aren’t necessary for this type of game and the cartoony style graphics fit the game very well.  

I have played a few bridge building games in the past and was pretty skeptical about Poly Bridge before playing it.  Being an Early Access game, there are a few minor bugs that I ran into while playing, but they were nothing bad enough to really effect the gameplay and the developers at Dry Cactus have been doing a great job at working on and fixing bugs and responding to the Steam community.  It is an addicting game that keeps improving and is well worth the $11.99 on Steam.

Score: 3 out of 5

Dirt Rally Review (Early Access PC)

Dirt Rally, from Codemasters, is an early-access Steam game that returns to an authentic and dangerous off-road racing experience.  Currently, the game has four massive environments and 38 challenging stages. You can drive them during the day or night, along with different weather conditions, such as dry, overcast, sunny, misty, wet, rainy and snowy. Dirt Rally also currently has 20 cars you can drive, from old to new, each which handle and drive differently.  Codemasters plans on releasing more cars and tracks as the game develops.

Dirt Rally also features a few different types of events for players to participate in, such as Rally Championships, Rally Async and custom Rally Events.  The game also features a great team management system where you can hire up to four engineering staff to work on your vehicle between stages.  The car upgrade system is also a great feature where your engineers will become more familiar with your cars the more you drive them and will research upgrades that will unlock the full potential of the car.

The gameplay and physics in Dirt Rally are amazing.  The game is a straight-forward simulation style drift racing game.  There are no over-the-top stunts or bonus points for long drifts.  Codemasters has done a great job so far of creating an emotionally-charged game.  You feel the intensity of every sharp corner as you hug the edge of the turn and do everything you can to keep the car from falling off the cliff while tearing through the track as fast as you can.  Every car has a different feel to it and each car can take some time getting used to.  The controls in the game feel very realistic and fluid.  I used an Xbox 360 controller for the most part while playing and it worked very well.  This is one of the few racing games out that has made me want to go out and buy a racing wheel for my PC.

The graphics in Dirt Rally are gorgeous.  Everything from the cars to the environment have amazing details which will likely only get better as the game progresses towards final release state.  The sounds of the game are also great.  You can hear everything from the gravel hitting your car to your brakes grinding when you hit them too hard.  The graphics and sound combined are some of the most impressive I have ever seen in a racing game.

Overall, Dirt Rally is one of the best racing games I have ever played, even though it is in the early-access stage.  If you enjoy arcade style racing games, this game may not be for you.  If you enjoy realistic, simulation style racers, this game is definitely for you.  It takes a while to get used to the handling of the cars, as one little mistake can send your car spinning.  Once you are used to it, it feels amazing when you hug each corner and improve your times each race.  I am really looking forward to seeing what more Codemasters can do to improve Dirt Rally.

4.5/5

Nevermind Review (Early Access PC)

Nevermind is a very unique and strange horror early access game that takes you into the minds of psychological trauma victims, with the goal of solving the puzzles inside the creepy worlds to figure out what the victims have gone through and help them reach clarity and peace.  

The game can be played with a variety of biofeedback sensors, which monitors your heart rate.  When played with one of these sensors, Nevermind detects your fear level and the game becomes increasingly harder as your fear level increases.  The goal of Nevermind is to teach you to be more aware of your unique internal responses to stressful situation.  Unfortunately, I was unable to play the game without one of these sensors, but I still really enjoyed playing it without.

The gameplay in Nevermind is great.  Even without the biofeedback sensors, it was challenging to solve some of the puzzles.  You really have to look hard and think deep in order to successfully solve the puzzles and help the patient.  Being a horror film and game fan, I was excited to see just how scary this game would be.  I’m the type of person that is not easily scared, especially when it comes to games. (P.T. wasn’t really scary to me, but I’ll admit I jumped a couple times.)  I didn’t really find this game very scary, it was more creepy and dark.  It didn’t have me jumping out of my seat, except for maybe a few times, but I wonder how much my heart rate really changed throughout the game.  While it may not have been very scary, I did find myself “on edge” quite a bit.  I was constantly wondering what I was going to come across next and just what was going on inside of this patient's mind.

The graphics in Nevermind are amazing.  The environment design is very dark and unique and keeps you looking around at all times.  You never know what you will come across in each spooky world.  Every patient’s mind has a completely different look and feel, which keeps the game fresh and shows that the developers really put their time and effort into each world.

The music and sounds in the game are very good.  It is a pretty quiet game for the most part, but the creepy music and sound effects greatly increase the intensity of the game.  As you get deeper in the mind of the patient and things get creepier, the sounds and music do an excellent job of reflecting that.  The voice-overs are pretty good as well, but the developer has mentioned that they may be changed at a later time.

Overall, Nevermind is a great game, even being an early access title.  It is a fun, unique game that should only improve over time.  This game is full of potential and I am excited to see what the developers add and change to the game to make it better.  The game play, graphics and sound are all great already, so the possibilities are endless. I really wish I could have played it with a biofeedback sensor to see just how much it adds to the game.  Maybe I will pick one up in the future and try it out.  If I do, I will be sure to post a follow-up for everyone to check out.  

3.5/5

Thanks to Flying Mollusk for providing a code for review.